January 29, 2016

Brrr...It's Cold Outside! Scottish Cock-a-Leekie Soup

It's been 5 days since Snowmageddon 2016 buried our region in over 30" of snow.

Shoveling and wading through waist high snow is not something any of us are going to forget any time soon. Schools have been closed all week and offices are only just now getting back to kind of normal work schedules. Personally with mountains of snow piled high on road sides, traffic reduced to single lanes and treacherous right and left turns, staying home in my jammies sounds like a really good idea.

The point is, with all this snow around I haven't quite been able to get my head out of a bowl of Soup.

I mean soup sound pretty good right about now. But with all that shoveling, I want something simple, uncomplicated and nutritious.

This traditional soup is simple and lovely and depending on whom you ask you'll get little tweaks - Like oh! I add bacon in mine or I saute my leeks in butter...or not - that sort of thing. The version I love, includes all the high points - leeks sautéed in butter with bacon, simmered with a whole chicken to make a robust delicious stock and finished with just a handful of rice, chopped parsley and..... wait for it - thinly sliced prunes!

The prunes are magic in the soup - a morsel of natural sweetness in every bite, not to mention a lovely golden brown hue it adds to the soup.

Did I mention, this soup wants for a solid 2 hours of simmering affording the opportunity of more snow shoveling (sigh) or reruns of Downton Abbey!

I know what I'd prefer, but whatever your reason I'd put this 5 ingredient soup on my winter must make list!

Gather the ingredients,

1 whole chicken 3-4 lbs

14 cups water for chicken stock

½ tbs salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

3 tsp brown sugar

~

2 tbs butter

4 thick bacon slices

2 lb leeks

1/3 cup long grain rice

½ cup prunes

2 tbs chopped parsley for garnish

Stock – In a stock pot, add the chicken and water, salt, pepper and sugar and bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer for 1 hour until the chicken is very tender and falls apart. Remove the chicken and set aside until cool to handle.

In a skillet, melt the butter on medium heat. Add the bacon and leeks and sauté until the leeks are translucent. Add the leek and bacon mixture to the chicken stock.

Add the rice and cover the stock pot with a lid, leaving a small gap to allow the steam to escape. Cook for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile,

Chicken: Separate the meat and discard skin and bones. Shred the meat and set aside covered until ready to eat.

Prunes: Cut into 1/8” slices and set aside.

Parsley: Separate leaves from stems and finely shop.

Add the prunes, chicken and parsley to the soup and simmer for 15 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings.

Serve with crusty bread.

Recipe for

Traditional Scottish Cock-a-Leekie soup

Shopping list:

1 whole chicken 3-4 lbs

14 cups water for chicken stock

½ tbs salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

3 tsp brown sugar

~

2 tbs butter

4 thick bacon slices

2 lb leeks

1/3 cup long grain rice

½ cup prunes

2 tbs chopped parsley for garnish

Preparation:

Stock – In a stock pot, add the chicken and water, salt, pepper and sugar and bring to boil. Lower heat and simmer for 1 hour until the chicken is very tender and falls apart. Remove the chicken and set aside until cool to handle.

Comments

Brrr...It's Cold Outside! Scottish Cock-a-Leekie Soup

It's been 5 days since Snowmageddon 2016 buried our region in over 30" of snow.

Shoveling and wading through waist high snow is not something any of us are going to forget any time soon. Schools have been closed all week and offices are only just now getting back to kind of normal work schedules. Personally with mountains of snow piled high on road sides, traffic reduced to single lanes and treacherous right and left turns, staying home in my jammies sounds like a really good idea.

The point is, with all this snow around I haven't quite been able to get my head out of a bowl of Soup.

I mean soup sound pretty good right about now. But with all that shoveling, I want something simple, uncomplicated and nutritious.

This traditional soup is simple and lovely and depending on whom you ask you'll get little tweaks - Like oh! I add bacon in mine or I saute my leeks in butter...or not - that sort of thing. The version I love, includes all the high points - leeks sautéed in butter with bacon, simmered with a whole chicken to make a robust delicious stock and finished with just a handful of rice, chopped parsley and..... wait for it - thinly sliced prunes!

The prunes are magic in the soup - a morsel of natural sweetness in every bite, not to mention a lovely golden brown hue it adds to the soup.

Did I mention, this soup wants for a solid 2 hours of simmering affording the opportunity of more snow shoveling (sigh) or reruns of Downton Abbey!

I know what I'd prefer, but whatever your reason I'd put this 5 ingredient soup on my winter must make list!